On Monday, Oct. 9, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced his decision to no longer run for president as a Democratic candidate, instead opting to continue his campaign as an Independent. Even as an Independent he has a slim chance at winning the bid for president, yet this decision can prove to have a notable effect on the outcome of the 2024 Presidential election. The debunked and wacky conspiracy theories and traditionally right-wing policies he champions tend to appeal more to Republican and right-wing voters. So instead of fizzling out as a failed Democratic candidate, he now has the potential to steal votes away from former President Donald Trump, who tends to draw support from a similar crowd.
Aside from being the son of Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, he gained public recognition during his time as an attorney and environmental campaigner. His most notable achievement was arguably his work done to help clean up the Hudson River beginning in 1984 and stretching to roughly 2020. His environmental background is a likely factor that contributed to his original decision to run as a Democrat, yet it was still a strange decision nonetheless.
Since 2005 Kennedy has been spreading vaccine misinformation, beginning with an article he wrote for Rolling Stone magazine where he espoused the idea that vaccines cause autism. According to an article by Shannon Bond of NPR, he has repeated this idea on multiple occasions, as well as a multitude of other disproven and harmful ideas. Many of his claims have not been made to major media outlets, but to podcasts and other internet shows. On the Joe Rogan Experience he said that Wi-Fi could cause cancer. During an appearance on the Jordan B. Peterson Podcast, he said that there are chemicals in the water supply turning children transgender. In an appearance with Elon Musk he said antidepressants are in part to blame for school shootings. According to Kennedy, the CIA killed JFK, 5G networks are used to surveil us, the Republicans stole the 2004 election; the list goes on and on.
The start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 helped propel Kennedy and his anti-vaccine rhetoric into the public spotlight. Martin Pengelly of The Guardian wrote in an article that such rhetoric included claiming Chinese and Ashkenazi Jewish people have a higher immunity to COVID-19 and comparing government public health mandates during the pandemic to Nazi Germany, even name-dropping Anne Frank. According to The Guardian, it was at the “Defeat the Mandates” march staged by his organization Children’s Health Defense Fund where Kennedy said, “Even in Hitler’s Germany you cross the Alps into Switzerland , you could hide in an attic like Anne Frank did.” The Auschwitz Memorial and Museum responded in a tweet calling his statement “a sad symptom of moral and intellectual decay.”
It was because of all these beliefs that, according to an article by Hanna Trudo and Alex Gangitano of The Hill, “Democratic leaders and party officials hoped Kennedy would simply fade away on his own.” This was until his racist and antisemitic COVID-19 statements which prompted the first statement about Kennedy to the press. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said his comments were factually incorrect and a harm to the American people.
The GOP gave Kennedy a forum in congress in front of a House Judiciary Select subcommittee about the “weaponization of the federal government,” according to The Hill. He used this platform to claim he was being censored because of the comments some people believed were racist and antisemitic. In response, New York Congressman Hakeem Jefferies said the GOP gave him that stage because he “is a living breathing false-flag operation.”
Currently, Kennedy is set to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) investor summit to save America between Oct. 18 and Oct. 21. CPAC is a far-right political conference that holds annual events. The conference has boasted speakers like Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. Kennedy is set to speak alongside Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
According to Pengelly, the CPAC chair and alleged sex offender Matt Schlapp said that Kennedy joining the event is, “A reflection of the splintering of the left wing coalition that has gone full woke Marxist to the point that traditional liberals don’t feel welcome anymore.”
I would hardly consider Kennedy a liberal; he is getting positive reactions from right-wingers like Schlapp, Trump and Roger Stone. He has long been preaching more right-leaning conspiracies and even his presidential campaign promises lean right. One notable example is his call to completely secure/shutdown the southern border, isolating the country, as can be found on his campaign website.
Kennedy’s switch from the Democratic Party had been a long time coming, and the ripples could potentially affect the results of the 2024 election. Polls show Trump and President Joe Biden as the two leading candidates. Now that Kennedy is able to pull in votes during the primary, according to Pengelly, a “Kennedy campaign insider” said, “This is going to f*** Trump. [Kennedy’s] values are much more inline with patriots. He’s against Big Pharma. He’s pro-Bitcoin. Decentralize so the government can’t control it.” I’m inclined to agree with the above statement. The crowd he attracts is much more likely to come from those with similar right-wing beliefs who might be looking for an option other than Trump. As of right now one can only hope that Kennedy’s party switch will turn out to help keep Trump out of office.
Harvie Marcotti can be contacted at
hmarcotti@kscequinox.com
